After a hiatus last year we hit the road for a semi-long weekend and drove to Red River, NM for a ski weekend with the family. It was our first family ski trip in a looooong time. What used to be a regular thing, when there were fewer of us (I'm looking at YOU, Children!) had faded to nothing in the last several years. This was the first time on skis for the little nieces and Emma became the best ski instructor anyone in the family has ever had. Last summer she taught the girlies to swim and now to ski. As Madilyn put it, "She's a really good cousin". I couldn't agree more.
I really love Red River. It hasn't gone commercial and consists of one street with some Mom & Pop restaurants, a market, and ski gear and rentals, some local tchotchke shops and places to stay. What more do you need? They've even started making snow so no worries about the slopes being rocky or bare in those dryer years. And the crowds were nonexistent. Sunday I think I waited in a lift line for maybe 2-3 minutes while Monday and Tuesday there was NO WAITING at all. It could not have been better. There were several moments on the slopes where we were the only ones within view. Our own private mountain.
It almost became our private mountain for a few bonus days. We woke early on Wednesday to make the trek back to Austin only to find about six inches of snow on the ground, about five hours earlier than the forecast I saw had predicted. No bueno. My minivan was not going to make that climb out of the valley so we had to sit tight and hope the plows came soon. Turned out it only took the plows as long as it took Shotgun Willies to cook us up some french toast and eggs so we were on our way.
Everyone made improvements (even ME!) and has vowed to keep the momentum. Red River, we'll be back!
